Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Consolidation Coal Co.
Remand penalty set at $30
Consolidation Coal Company was ordered to pay back pay and interest to three miners whose protected work refusals had resulted in discipline, along with a civil penalty. On remand from the Commission, Judge Gary Melick found that the record supported only the operator's negligence and the gravity…
AKZO Nobel Salt, Inc.
Work discrimination complaint dismissed
James C. Tysar, a laborer and safety committeeman at AKZO Nobel Salt's Cleveland Mine, was suspended for refusing an assignment to clean salt from a conveyor belt. He said the work was unsafe because a forklift and worker in a raised basket could be struck by vehicles using a nearby elevator. Judge…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Penalty vacated for reassessment
Jim Walter Resources operated the No. 7 underground coal mine in Alabama. MSHA cited the mine for extensive combustible accumulations around a belt line, and the ALJ assessed a $15,000 penalty after finding the violation significant and substantial and the result of unwarrantable failure. The…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Remand penalties set at $70
MSHA cited Buffalo Crushed Stone for a slack emergency-stop cord on a conveyor and an elevated walkway without required cleats. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the stop-cord violation was not significant and substantial because the Secretary did not show that a miner was reasonably likely to fall…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Remand penalties set at $70
MSHA cited Buffalo Crushed Stone for a slack emergency-stop cord on a conveyor and an elevated walkway without required cleats. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the stop-cord violation was not significant and substantial because the Secretary did not show that a miner was reasonably likely to fall…
Kellys Creek Resources, Inc.
Remand penalty set at $500
The Commission had found that Kellys Creek Resources' conceded violation was significant and substantial and resulted from unwarrantable failure, then remanded the case for penalty reassessment. Judge Avram Weisberger found more than ordinary negligence and very high gravity, while reducing the…
Kellys Creek Resources, Inc.
Remand penalty set at $500
The Commission had found that Kellys Creek Resources' conceded violation was significant and substantial and resulted from unwarrantable failure, then remanded the case for penalty reassessment. Judge Avram Weisberger found more than ordinary negligence and very high gravity, while reducing the…
Harmon Electronics, Inc.
In re Harmon Electronics, Inc. (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 94-4): liability and $586,716 penalty affirmed
Harmon Electronics, Inc. operated a railroad-signal equipment facility in Missouri where employees disposed of organic solvents on the ground from 1973 through 1987. After the practice was reported, EPA alleged that Harmon operated a hazardous-waste landfill without a permit, lacked required…
Mountain Top Trucking Co., Inc.
Back-pay information order
The consolidated proceedings concerned discrimination claims by miners at the Huff Creek Mine. Judge Jerold Feldman had already found that Walter Jackson's discharge violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act and needed information to calculate his relief. The judge ordered Jackson to provide details…
Mountain Top Trucking Co., Inc.
Back-pay information order
The consolidated proceedings concerned discrimination claims by miners at the Huff Creek Mine. Judge Jerold Feldman had already found that Walter Jackson's discharge violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act and needed information to calculate his relief. The judge ordered Jackson to provide details…
Pitt-Des Moines, Inc.
Citation dismissal reversed during criminal investigation
Two workers were killed and five injured when a beam support failed during structural-steel construction and part of a building collapsed. OSHA issued two willful and one serious citation with $147,000 in proposed penalties. While the Justice Department considered criminal charges, the ALJ…
Tidewater Pacific, Inc.
OSHA jurisdiction upheld on uninspected tugboat
OSHA cited working conditions on an uninspected tugboat operating within Alaska's three-mile territorial waters. The Commission held that a vessel in those waters is a workplace in a state under the OSH Act. Coast Guard regulation did not preempt OSHA's confined-space, machine-guarding…
Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc.
Citations reinstated after mootness reversal
The Eleventh Circuit vacated a second dismissal of this case and held that it was not moot because OSHA continued to seek civil penalties for alleged past violations. The court's ruling reinstated four citations classified as serious, willful, repeated, and other-than-serious, with $692,000 in…
Advance Stone Incorporated
Settlement approved for $229
Advance Stone Incorporated faced three civil penalty citations at its New Milford Plant. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck approved a settlement reducing the proposed total from $554 to $229, after considering the Mine Act penalty criteria. The judge ordered payment within 30 days and dismissed the case…
Advance Stone Incorporated
Settlement approved for $229
Advance Stone Incorporated faced three civil penalty citations at its New Milford Plant. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck approved a settlement reducing the proposed total from $554 to $229, after considering the Mine Act penalty criteria. The judge ordered payment within 30 days and dismissed the case…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Settlement enforcement motions denied
Eastern Associated Coal asked the ALJ to enforce an alleged agreement to vacate a citation, dismiss the case, and postpone the proceeding. Judge Gary Melick found that the company had not identified consideration supporting the alleged promise and that no enforceable settlement agreement could be…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Eastern Associated Coal failed to submit a request to contest a proposed penalty within the 30-day period because a substitute mailroom employee did not refer it to the legal department. The Commission found that the existing record was insufficient to decide whether the company qualified for…
Whayne Supply Company
Remand dismissal
Whayne Supply Company contested an MSHA order. On remand, Judge Gary Melick found the proceeding moot because the Secretary had not timely sought Commission review and the earlier ALJ decision vacating the underlying order was final. The judge dismissed the case.
Whayne Supply Company
Remand dismissal
Whayne Supply Company contested an MSHA order. On remand, Judge Gary Melick found the proceeding moot because the Secretary had not timely sought Commission review and the earlier ALJ decision vacating the underlying order was final. The judge dismissed the case.
Bob Bak Construction
Mine safety violations affirmed with penalties reduced
Bob Bak Construction operated a sand and gravel mine in South Dakota. After three inspections, MSHA issued 24 citations and orders involving defective mobile equipment, missing guards and electrical protections, inadequate emergency facilities, and violations of closure and imminent-danger orders…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Belt and coal-dust findings remanded or reversed
MSHA issued five orders to Jim Walter Resources for conveyor-belt maintenance and coal-dust accumulations at its No. 7 Mine in Alabama. The Commission held that the ALJ used an incorrect test for deciding whether the two belt violations involved unwarrantable failure, so it vacated those findings…
Turner Construction Co.
Citation vacated as a sanction for the Secretary's repeated failure to file a complaint on time
OSHA issued a citation to Turner Construction Co. on September 26, 1996. Instead of filing its complaint on time, the Secretary of Labor asked the judge for extensions three separate times, each time to "more fully analyze the issues." Chief Judge Irving Sommer had granted the first two requests…
Sebco, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation stands
Sebco, Inc., a general contracting and construction management firm, received an OSHA citation and proposed penalties by certified mail on May 15, 1996. Employers have 15 working days to file a notice of contest, or the citation becomes a final order automatically. Sebco did not respond until July…
Secretary of Labor v. Broken Hill Mining Company
Default decision remanded for findings
Broken Hill Mining Company did not appear at a January 1997 hearing on eight alleged safety violations. The ALJ found the company in default and ordered it to pay the proposed civil penalty of $26,300. The Commission reviewed the decision on its own motion because the ALJ's order did not state the…
S & M Construction Inc.
Mixed citation results and $7,020 penalty
S & M Construction operated mining equipment at the Coal Creek Mine. Judge Avram Weisberger dismissed a citation alleging that a baghouse was not maintained in safe operating condition because the Secretary did not prove the underlying equipment condition with competent evidence. The judge affirmed…
Secretary of Labor v. Kellys Creek Resources, Inc.
Borehole violation classified as S&S and unwarrantable
Kellys Creek Resources operated a coal mine in Tennessee. The company cut through into a sealed mine area while mining within 200 feet of an area that had not been accurately surveyed, without drilling the required boreholes. The cut-through released air with dangerously low oxygen, and the…
Secretary of Labor v. AMAX Coal Company
Methane citation remanded for penalty proceedings
AMAX Coal Company was cited after a methane reading in an above-ground structure exceeded 1 percent. The ALJ had vacated the citation, but the Commission held that 30 C.F.R. § 77.201 clearly prohibits methane concentrations at or above 1 percent in the covered structure. The Commission reversed and…
Del Rio, Inc.
Late penalty contest request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Del Rio, Inc. mailed its request to contest an MSHA penalty one week late after the form was misfiled in its accounts-payable records. The penalty had already become a final Commission order because the company did not notify the Secretary within 30 days. The Commission remanded the matter to a…
Steve Napier v. Bledsoe Coal Corp., f/k/a Bituminous-Laurel Mining, Inc.
Steve Napier v. Bledsoe Coal Corp. (FMSHRC KENT 96-269-D): Discrimination complaint dismissed
Steve Napier alleged that Bledsoe Coal Corporation discriminated against him in violation of section 105 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. Napier said he had raised safety concerns about drawrock, the removal of a bolter canopy, and deep cuts at Bledsoe's underground No. 4 Mine. Judge…
Sterling Plumbing Group, Inc.
Lead-inspection warrant and citations upheld
A state health department referred reports that Sterling employees had blood-lead levels above OSHA's medical-removal threshold. After Sterling denied entry, OSHA obtained a warrant and cited lead-standard and recordkeeping violations. The Commission held that the warrant application contained…
L.R. Willson and Sons, Inc.
Fall-protection citation vacated on court remand
A supervisor and crew member performed steel-erection work without the required safety cables. The Commission had previously affirmed the violation as serious, but the Fourth Circuit held that OSHA bore the burden of proving the supervisor's conduct was foreseeable or preventable. On remand, the…
Regional Scaffolding & Hoisting Co., Inc.
Off-site surveillance challenge rejected
An OSHA compliance officer observed and videotaped employees dismantling an exterior hoist without fall protection, first from a public plaza and then from a federal courthouse roof. Regional Scaffolding argued that the surveillance violated the Fourth Amendment and the OSH Act's credential and…
Secretary of Labor v. Southern Refractories, Inc.
Mixed results and $181 penalty
Southern Refractories removes and replaces refractory material in preheaters and kilns. The judge vacated one hose-connection citation, approved settlements for two other citations, and affirmed a safe-access citation after deleting two alleged conditions and the significant-and-substantial…
CBI Na-Con, Inc.
"shall be provided" does not require the employer to pay for welding gloves
CBI Na-Con, a construction contractor and subsidiary of Chicago Bridge & Iron, ran a site in Geismar, Louisiana where it employed over 50 welders and required them to wear welding gloves. OSHA cited the company for an other-than-serious violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.95(a), the construction personal…
Secretary of Labor v. Capitol Cement Corp.
Lockout and fall-protection violations affirmed
Capitol Cement operated a cement plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The judge affirmed a citation for failing to de-energize and lock out a 480-volt overhead crane hot rail before work, and an order for failing to use a safety belt while working about 50 feet above the ground. The judge also…
Secretary of Labor v. Capitol Cement Corp.
Lockout and fall-protection violations affirmed
Capitol Cement operated a cement plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The judge affirmed a citation for failing to de-energize and lock out a 480-volt overhead crane hot rail before work, and an order for failing to use a safety belt while working about 50 feet above the ground. The judge also…
Capitol Cement Corp.
Safety violations affirmed after disabling electrical injury
Capitol Cement challenged citations and a withdrawal order issued after a shift supervisor suffered disabling electrical burns while working near an energized overhead crane rail without de-energizing and locking out the power. The case also involved the failure to wear a safety belt and line while…
Secretary of Labor v. Whayne Supply Company
Unwarrantable-failure finding remanded
Whayne Supply Company services Caterpillar machinery at coal mines. During a bulldozer repair, a field technician was killed when a raised belly pan was not securely blocked before work was performed underneath it. The ALJ found that the technician's conduct could be considered in evaluating…
Green Thumb Nursery, Inc.
In re Green Thumb Nursery, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 95-4a): $3,000 penalty upheld
Green Thumb Nursery, Inc., a retail establishment in Canton, Ohio, sold a 12% sodium hypochlorite solution under its own label for swimming pools, lawns, and gardens. The Environmental Appeals Board held that Green Thumb had sold or distributed an unregistered pesticide in violation of FIFRA, and…
Secretary of Labor v. New Mexico Potash Corporation
Electrical-safety citations affirmed after fatal electrocution
New Mexico Potash operated an underground potash mine in New Mexico. After a miner died while handling an energized power cable with a damaged outer jacket, the judge found violations for failing to protect electrical conductors from mechanical damage and for manually moving an energized cable…
R. P. Carbone Construction Co.
General contractor liable for subcontractor's exposed fall hazard
R. P. Carbone Construction Company was the general contractor on a recreation-center project in Cleveland, Ohio, and subcontracted the steel erection to CommSteel. During a July 1996 inspection prompted by a complaint, an OSHA compliance officer saw two CommSteel ironworkers installing bridging…
Donald Braasch Construction, Inc.
Informer-privilege sanctions reversed
After a crane operator was seriously injured, the employer sought any statement he may have given OSHA. The ALJ found the informer privilege waived, ordered disclosure, barred the Secretary from calling the operator, and dismissed a willful item carrying a proposed $49,000 penalty when the…
Tops Markets, Inc.
Cord-and-plug lockout violations affirmed
A bakery employee seriously injured a finger when a roll machine started unexpectedly while he changed a die without unplugging it. Employees also cleared jams from another plugged-in machine that could crush or lacerate their hands. Tops argued that cord-and-plug equipment was exempt from…
Anthony Crane Rental, Inc.
Crane inspection and repair violations affirmed
Anthony Crane Rental leased a truck crane whose boom later collapsed at an airport construction site, killing the lessee's crane oiler. On court remand, the issue was whether Anthony Crane's own employees were exposed to hazards from missing inspection records, improperly adjusted components, and…
Secretary of Labor v. Sunny Ridge Mining Company, Inc.
Mixed rulings on raised equipment and highwall violations
Sunny Ridge Mining operated a surface coal mine in Kentucky. The Commission vacated and remanded the finding that miners worked under an unsecured raised truck bed because the ALJ did not explain the factual basis and the record was incomplete. It affirmed three highwall violations and the…
Williams Pipe Line Company and L&C Services, Inc.
In re Williams Pipe Line Company and L&C Services, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 97-3): reconsideration denied
EPA Region VII appealed an initial decision that dismissed its complaint against Williams Pipe Line Company and L&C Services, Inc. The Region filed a revised notice of appeal six days after the Board's deadline and asked the Board to reconsider its dismissal of the appeal. The Board held that…
Williams Pipe Line Company and L&C Services, Inc.
In re Williams Pipe Line Company and L&C Services, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 97-3): appeal dismissed with prejudice
EPA Region VII appealed an initial decision that dismissed its complaint against Williams Pipe Line Company and L&C Services, Inc. The Board granted the Region a seven-day extension to submit a revised notice of appeal specifying the issues for review, with a deadline of February 20, 1997. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Mingo Logan Coal Company
Operator liability for contractor training violation affirmed
Mingo Logan Coal Company operated an underground coal mine and used an independent contractor for construction work. MSHA found that one contractor employee received the shorter experienced-miner training instead of the required 40-hour training for a newly employed inexperienced miner. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Bellefonte Lime Co., Inc.
Citation modified and penalty assessed
Bellefonte Lime operated a limestone quarry in Pennsylvania. The judge found that falling rocks and other material exposed miners to a ground-condition hazard, but concluded the evidence did not establish that an injury-producing event was reasonably likely during continued normal mining. The judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Hobet Mining, Inc.
Bulldozer citation vacated
Hobet Mining operated a surface coal mine. MSHA cited the company after finding that a Caterpillar D-10 bulldozer was missing a platform and handrail used for radiator maintenance. The judge found that operators could safely mount and dismount the bulldozer from the other side during normal dozing…
Secretary of Labor v. Eastern Ridge Lime Company
Two violations affirmed and one order dismissed
Eastern Ridge Lime operated an underground limestone mine where a roof fall killed a supervisor and seriously injured another miner. The judge found that the mine had failed to provide needed ground support and had exposed miners to falling material during scaling, and found both violations…
Lendon Shepherd v. Consol of Kentucky, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed as untimely
Lendon Shepherd alleged that Consol of Kentucky discharged him in violation of the Mine Act's miner-protection provision after a work-related injury and a disputed pre-employment physical. He said he had contacted MSHA within the required period, but the judge credited testimony that no complaint…
Auxvasse Stone & Gravel Co.
Defective haul-truck steering citation affirmed
Auxvasse Stone & Gravel operated an open-pit limestone mine near Auxvasse, Missouri. The judge found that a Caterpillar 769B haul truck had two defective steering components, including a missing bearing on the left steering cylinder and a damaged bearing on the right tie rod. Because the defects…
Geo & Ted Electric Corp.
Two of four contested items upheld against an electrical contractor, two vacated
Geo & Ted Electric Corp. (G&T), a Brooklyn electrical contractor, was one of several contractors renovating New York City's medical examiner building. OSHA inspected after a fatal accident involving a different contractor's employee and cited G&T for serious and repeat violations. By the time of…
Commonwealth Chesapeake Corp.
In re Commonwealth Chesapeake Corp. (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 96-2 through 96-5): permit review denied
Commonwealth Chesapeake Corporation received a PSD permit and approval to construct a peaker power plant in Accomack County, Virginia. Four local residents petitioned for review, raising concerns about health, environmental effects, visibility, acid rain, groundwater, land use, and noise. The…
Buffalo Crushed Stone, Inc.
Mixed rulings on conveyor and walkway safety violations
Buffalo Crushed Stone operated a limestone quarry in New York. The Commission held that a slack emergency stop cord alongside a conveyor did not meet the requirement that a person falling against the conveyor be able to readily deactivate its motor, reversing the judge’s no-violation finding and…
C.E.M. Plumbing, Inc.
Trench violation affirmed as serious, not willful
C.E.M. employees worked for 15 to 20 minutes in a six-foot-deep trench with vertical walls and no protective system. The company president said shoring costs would have affected the bid, but he also believed clay soil and tree roots made the trench safe. The Commission found that OSHA did not prove…
Broken Hill Mining Company
Eight violations affirmed after default
MSHA sought $26,300 in civil penalties against Broken Hill Mining Company for eight alleged violations of mandatory mine-safety standards in 30 C.F.R. Part 75. The company did not appear at the scheduled hearing, so the judge proceeded without it and found the company in default. Based on the…
Marie Kischel, d/b/a Schiller's Window Cleaning Service
Settled case remanded for disposition
The Acting Secretary informed the Commission that the case had settled. The Secretary asked that it be returned to the ALJ for disposition together with related docket 96-0627. The Commission granted the motion and remanded the case.
IMC-AGRICO Company
One fatal-accident citation modified and one vacated
IMC-AGRICO operated the Fort Green phosphate mine in Florida. After a lineman was electrocuted while climbing onto a power-pole cross arm, the judge found that the company violated the requirement to de-energize and lock out the power circuit before work, but found no operator negligence because…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.